Lyon County what you put in your recycling bin matters! Recycling in Lyon County is a point of pride for our community. As community members strive to understand what is and what is not recyclable and do a great job on sorting out where things go when they are no longer wanted or needed, it has been noticed from those partners of ours who take our recycling as it moves towards the final point.

As our recycling moves from Lyon County, to a transfer station in Redwood County to its final destination, Dem-Con in Shakopee, it has been noticed that our recycling is cleaner and has less wish cycling in it as compared to other programs. We should be proud of our hard work and thankful for our program. There are many communities outside of Minnesota who do not have curbside recycling or community recycling drop sites.

What is wish cycling? Contamination or wish cycling is when we place items into our recycling curbside bins or our community bins that should not go in these places. We are “wishing” that something could be recycled or that the recycling hauler can figure out a way to recycle that item. Unfortunately, this does not happen.

By asking ourselves two questions, we can help narrow down whether or not something can go into our curbside/community recycling program. Is this item an empty, clean food container? If yes, it can go into our recycling bins. Is it paper (not shredded or books) or cardboard? If yes, it can go into our recycling bins. Cardboard can also go to one of our many cardboard containers made available throughout the county as well. These bins are for residential use only.

Do not go by the logo that is a triangle shape and has numbers in the middle of it because this is NOT a recycling logo but only tells us what kind of plastic that item is made from. It can be confusing and there are a few states in the U.S. that are now banning the use of this logo because it can confuse the best of us recyclers!

At this time of the year, in particular, we see empty plant pots, oil containers, chemical containers, RV fluid containers, Styrofoam, furnace filters, bubble wrap, empty landscape rock, pet food bags, solar salt bags or mulch bags and similar items that are not recyclable in our curbside or community recycling containers. All of these items are trash. They are not empty, clean food containers and they are not paper.

To serve as a reminder, the Environmental office at the fairgrounds does not take trash. If you have items that need to be thrown away or items that are broken and cannot be used anymore, please take them to the landfill or call your trash hauler for assistance.

Mattresses that are clean, dry and free of bedbugs cost $16 to bring for alternative disposal. They must be brought to the Environmental Office for inspection first. Residents should not be dropping items off outside of business hours please.

Shredded paper, car seats, Styrofoam, hard covered books, needles (sharps) and battery disposal are handled much differently than our curbside/community recycling containers. Shredded paper, hard covered books and Styrofoam can be brought to the Environmental office for free or it can be thrown away. It should never go into your curbside carts or community recycling containers.

Needles (sharps) can be brought to the household hazardous waste facility for free but must be in a sharps container. These should never be thrown into the trash for the safety of all waste haulers and the staff that works at the landfill. Car seats should go to the Environmental office at the fairgrounds in Marshall.

If you are not sure where to dispose of items, please call our office or the landfill for assistance. The Lyon County Landfill can be reached at (507) 865-4615 or the Environmental office can be reached at (507) 532-8210.